Latch mechanism for textile spindles



Feb. 21, 1950 J, COCHRAN 2,497,865

LATCH MECHANISM FOR TEXTILE SPINDLES Filed Jan. 13. 1948 2 Shets Sheet 1JOHN /1. CO CHR/W INVENTOR.

v BY pa yv/ ul ITTORNE Y6 Feb. 21, 1950 J. K. cocHRAN ,497,865

LATCH MECHANISM FOR TEXTILE SPINDLES Filed Jan. 13, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet2 JOH/V /r. COCH/PA/V INVENTOR.

P w y ATTORNEYJ Patented Feb. 21, 1950 2,497,865 mron MECHANISM ron.'rsxmn srmnms John Kermit Cochran, Co

by mesne asslgnmen Products Company, tion of Ohio nyngham, Pm, assignor,ts, to The Marquette Metal Cleveland, Ohio, a corpora- ApplicationJanuary 13, 1948, Serial No. 1,974 10 Claims. (CI. 57-89) This inventionrelates to a mounting and latch mechanism for a rotatable spindle forspinning or twisting textile yarns.

In the type machine to which this invention relates, a bobbin or woundpackage of textile yarns is carried b a rotatable spindle which, in

urn, is

package of yarn .remains comparatively stationary. Such mechanism isused with the so-called double twist spindles, for instance.

There may be various types of mountings for the spindle, and variousarrangements for preventing the yarn package from rotating when thespindle is rotating. In one such arrangement, for instance, the spindlemay be mounted vertically and magnets are utilized to prevent thepackage from rotating. In another arrangement the spindle may be'mounted at an angle and a weight, such as a lead weight, for instance,inserted on one side of the package carrier so that the package carrieris prevented from rotating by the force of gravity.

In the prior art methods utilizing the rotating spindle and a stillpackage, there has been the problem of preventing injury either to themechanism or to personnel operating the mechanism when, throughaccident, the yarn package carrier seizes on the spindle and thusrotates therewith and accelerates to a' dangerously high speed. Whensuch accident occurs, and the package and its carrier does begin torotate at a high speed, some part of the machine is broken due to theunbalance, .and parts of the yarn package or spindle mechanism arethrown out by centrifugal force. Thus, not only is there injury to themechanism itself, but there may be injury to anything or anyone in thetrajectory of the broken piece which has been thrown out by theunbalanced rotating package and.

spindle.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an arrangementfor spinning or twist-' ing textile yarns hich have improved safetycharacteristics.

It is another object of this invention to'provide a latch mechanism fora spindle which will be an improvement over prior art methods.

It is another object of this invention to provide a latch mechanism fora spindle which will be safer in operation having automatic safetyarrangements to prevent the yarn package carrier from rotating at adangerous speed.

It is a further object of this invention to prm vide a latch mechanismfor a spindle which will automatically hold the spindle away from thedriving belt whenever the yarn package carrier rotates at such a speedthat its oscillation will pull it away from the belt.

Further objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art after a study of the following description, claims and drawing,in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a spindle mounting and latch mechanism inpartial cross section with the driving belt engaging the spindle;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the latch mechanism spindle mountg with the spindle disengaged or spaced from. the driving belt:

' Figure 3 is a cross sectional view through t-I body portion I 3 of thebracket ll.

. seen by referring to Figure 3,

II seated on a ,the plate II on to the body of Figure 1; I

- Figure 4 is'a side elevational view of the spindle assembly includinga modified latch; and

Figure 5 shows a portion of the spindle mounting illustrating anothermodification of the latch. 1

Referring now in more detail to Figure 1, it will be seen that abracket- II is attached by any suitable means, such as riveting, to aframe I! which may be the standard frame used in spinning or twistingtextile yarns; the bracket H has a lateral body portion I! which servesas the base for the mounting of the spindle I having a whorl Ii.

The bolster ll, having the spindle bearing in the upper portion thereofin the usual way, is mounted to a Plate member I1 which is slidablymounted for longitudinal movement on the As may be supporting thebolster has the sides thereof extending downwardly at It and theninwardly at I! to wrap around the edges of thebody portion ,ll of thebracket. This arrangement" locks ll of the bracket but permitslongitudinal sliding.

The bolster n is mounted to the plate 11 in the usual wayby means ofwashers or shoulders resilient cushion 22. The bolster extends through ahole in the plate and is retained in place -by a coil spring 23 havingone end thereof pressing against the plate I! and the other end thereofsupported in any suitable way such as an'adiustible nut 24. Toaccommodate the nut 21 the lower end of the bolster is threaded.

This arrengement for mounting the bolster ll the-package carrier and vthe plate member on the plate provides a resilient mounting for thebolster and spindle, the amount of resiliency being readily controlledby adjustment of the nut 24 to increase or decrease, as desired, thetension or the spring 23.

Since the bolster extends below the body portion |3 of the bracket, andsince the plate I! is slidably mounted for longitudinal movement, thereis an elongated opening throughout that portion of the body l3 throughwhich the bolster travels as the plate slides longitudinally thereon.This opening is illustrated at 25 and, as may be seen in Figure 1, thebolster is near one end thereof when the spindle is in drivingv positionand is near the other end thereof, as illustrated in Figure 2, when thespindle is disengaged or spaced from the driving belt.

The plate I! on the body l3 of the bracket is pulled towards the belt bymeans of a coil spring 26. It is obvious that other means may be usedfor this purpose but the coil spring is suggested as having operatedcompletely satisfactorily. One end of the spring 23 is attached to ahole in a flange 21 on the body portion |3 of the bracket-while theother end of the spring may be attached in any convenient manner to theplate H, as, for instance, a hook 23 which may be welded to the plate.

Longitudinal movement of the plate and the bolster and spindle on thebracket is limited by the length of the opening 25 provided in the bodyportion I: of the bracket. Thus, in driving position the whorl is heldin contact with the belt while in the disengaged position, the whorl isheld away from the belt. The spring 26 acts to maintain the spindle indriving position, the tension of the spring causing the plate to bepulled inwardly so that the whorl l engages the driving belt 28.

A latch 3| is pivotally mounted on the other end of the plate IT. Thislatch 3| may be an elongated strip of metal having a downwardlyextending portion 32 which may be bent slightly inwardly providing alatching finger. In the preferred form, the end 33 of the latch 3| isbent upwardly to provide a U-shaped portion so that the upwardlyextending part may serve as a handle for operation of the latchmechanism. As may be seen by referring carefully to Figures 1 and 2, thelatch 3| is mounted in such a position that the U-shaped portion offinger 32 slides longitudinally along the end of the body l3 of thebracket. When the plate I! is at the inner end of its longitudinaltravel, that is, when the driving belt 29 engages the whorl IS, thelatching finger 32 rests on the body l3 of the bracket near one end ofthe opening 25 therein. When the spindle and bolster approach the otherend of the opening 25, due to the longitudinal movement of the plate ll,the latching finger drops over the end 34 of the body l3 as illustratedin Figure 2. When this occurs, the plate and thus the bolster andspindle are latched in this position, and the spindle whorl I5 isdisengaged from the driving belt 29.

It will be obvious that the amount of longitudinal travel of the plate11 and bolster and spindle mounted thereon is not critical. It is onlynecessary that the whorl I! be spaced from the driving belt 29. However,it will be noted that the length of the lateral extension or end 34 ofthe body l3 over which the latching finger 32 slides is dependent on theamount of longitudinal travel of the plate Thus the bolster It must notabut against the outer end of the open- 4 ing 2! before the latchingfinger 32 slides down over the end 34 o! the body I3.

With this arrangement the spindle is mounted completely resiliently bothby means of the bolster spring 23 and additionally by means of the platespring 23. The handle portion 33 of the latch 3| serves as a convenienthand control for allowing the spindle to be engaged by the driving beltor for disengaging the spindle from the driving belt as desired.

As pointed out previously, it a yarn package carrier rotates at anaccelerating rate which would develop a dangerous speed unless checked,the entire mechanism, being unbalanced, will result in breakage or otherinjury. with the type mechanism described and illustrated, an unbalancedrotating package carrier and spindle will begin to oscillate or gyrate.When this occurs, the entire mechanism will tend to move When thisoccurs, the plate or a unit described as herein will move sufllcientlyto allow the latch 3| to drop down over the edge 34 of the body l3. Inthis position, the spindle is disengaged from the driving belt andlatched in the disengaged position.

If the longitudinal movement of the plate l1 and lateral extension ofthe end 34 of the body I3 is sufficiently short, the gyrating' oroscillating spindle will be disengaged from the driving belt fairlyquickly. The disengagement will take place before a high rotating speedhas been reached. The driving force is removed automatically beforethere is any danger of injury due to the unbalanced rotation of thespindle and yarn package carrier.-

The particular adjustments for enabling the latch to operate and thusretain the'spindle in a non-rotatable position will vary with diflerentconditions in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art. Forinstance, there are variable factors such as tensions of the springs 23and 26, the speed of operation or rotation of the spindle 'and theweight or amount of unbalance of the package carrier. The latch 3| maybe readily adjusted to take into account these variable factors. Theamount of longitudinal movement of the spindle with its mounting platein order to be safely removed from the driving belt 29 may varyaccording to use. Therefore, it will be readily recognized by thoseskilled in the art that dimensions are not critical.

In Figure 4 there is illustrated a spindle in a vertical position andthere is included the unbalanced package carrier 4| together with a yarnpackage 42. The package carrier 4| may be unbalanced by a weight 43, forinstance, in a small radial section thereof. This weight 43 may be alead weight which is particularly useful if the spindle is mounted at anangle as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. If a magnetic means is beingused to retainthe package carrier stationary, then theweight may be apart of the magnetic apparatus. Amagnetic pole 44 is shown in Figure 4to illustrate this principle which is well under stood by those skilledin the art.

Also in Figure 4, a modified form of latch is illustrated. In thisparticular form, the latch 3| is mounted on the stationary plate orsupport II and is adapted to latch over a complementary point on themovable plate l1. Thus, it will be noted that the latch may be mountedon either the movable or the stationary plate.

In Figure 5, a further modification of the latch mechanism isillustrated. According to this form one of the plates Il" may have aratchet tooth surface illustrated at 46. The latch 3| is mounted on theother of the plates H and is adapted to engage the ratchet surface 46.This particular form has the advantage that the oscillation of thespindle will continue so long as there is contact with the driving belt29 and until a sufficient number of ratchet teeth have been engaged toretain the spindle away from the driving belt and thus in non-rotatingposition. In this way the mechanism is automatically selfcompensatingfor the variable factors such as spring tensions.

A vertical mounting for the spindle such as illustrated in Figure 4 maybe desired in some cases. In other cases an angular mounting such as isillustrated in Figures 1 and 2 may be preierred. The angular mountingmay be adapted to any desired angle and has the advantage that theweight of the unbalanced package carrier retains the package carrier innon-rotating position due to the force of gravity.

While the movement of the plate H has been referred to as a longitudinalmovement it will be apparent that variations in structural detail willpermit variation in the movement of the plate to accomplish the desiredresult.

While particular details of the latch mechanism have been described andillustrated, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatmodifications are possible without departing from the scope of theinvention. I

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for spinning and twisting textile yarns comprising arotatable spindle, an unbalanced package carrier mounted thereon, saidpackage carrier adapted to be stationary while said spindle rotates, amounting for said spindle comprising a base member resiliently mountedfor slidable movement on a support, said spindle being resilientlymounted on said base member and a latch mechanism to retain said spindlein nonrotating position.

2. The combination according to claim 1 in which the spindle is mountedat an angle 'with respect to the horizontal.

3. Apparatus for spinning and twisting textile yarns comprising arotatable spindle, an unbalanced package carrier mounted thereon, saidpackage carrier being adapted to be stationary while said spindlerotates, a mounting for said rotatable spindle comprising a base memberresiliently mounted for movement on a support, said spindle beingresiliently mounted on said base member and a latch mechanism operableto retain said spindle in non-rotating position.

4. Apparatus for spinning and twisting textile yarns comprising arotatable spindle, an unbalanced package carrier mounted thereon, saidpackage carrier adapted to be relatively stationary while said spindlerotates, a mounting for said spindle comprising a latch mechanismmounted for longitudinal movement on a support, said spindle beingresiliently mounted and movable with said latch mechanism, said latchmechanism being operable to retain said spindle in non-rotatingposition.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 in which said spindle is mountedat an angle with respect to the horizontal.

6. Apparatus for spinning and twisting textile yarns comprising arotatable spindle, an unbalanced package carrier mounted thereon, saidpackage carrier being adapted to be relatively stationary while saidspindle rotates, a mounting for said spindle comprising a support, aplate resiliently mounted on said support and slidably movable withrespect thereto, said spindle being resiliently mounted on said plateand a latch mounted on said plate and adapted to catch over a portion ofsaid bracket thereby to retain said spindle in non-rotating position.

7. Apparatus for spinning and twisting textile yarns comprising arotatable spindle, an unbalanced package carrier mounted thereon, saidpackage carrier being adapted to be relatively stationary while saidspindle rotates, a mounting for said spindle comprising a stationarysupporting plate and a movable plate resiliently mounted thereon, saidspindle being resiliently mounted on said movable plate, and a latchmounted on one of said plates and adapted to catch over a portion of theother of said plates,

: thereby to retain said spindle in non-rotating position.

8. Apparatus for spinning and twisting textile yarns comprising arotatable spindle, an unbalanced package carrier mounted thereon, saidpackage carrier being adapted to be relatively stationary while saidspindle rotates, a mounting for said spindle comprising a stationarysupporting plate and a movable plate resiliently mounted thereon, saidspindle Ibeing resiliently mounted on said movable plate, one of saidplates having a ratchet surface and a latch mounted on the other of saidplates adapted to engage said ratchet surface, thereby to retain saidspindle in non-rotating position.

9. Apparatus for spinning and twisting textile yarns comprising arotatable spindle, an unbalanced package carrier supported by thespindle but free therefrom to the extent that the carrier normally willnot rotate, a mounting for the spindle guided for rectilinear movementalong a main support, the mounting normally occupying a position on themain support such as to maintain the spindle in a normal operatingposition, and a latch device arranged to connect the mounting to themain support consequent upon movement of the mounting and spindle out oftheir normally occupied position under centrifugal influence of theunbalanced package.

10. The combination according to claim 9 in which the main support isarranged to guide the mounting for rectilinear movement of the spindlein a direction inclined relative to the horizontal.

JOHN KERMIT COCHRAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,110,320 Bochmann Mar. 8, 19382,374,085 Gwaltney et a1. Apr. 17, 1945

